op dayton



July 16, 1929. v F. D. FUNSTON 1,720,951

'ENGINE STARTING APPARATUS Filed Nov.y 21, 1927 FREDERICK D. FUNSTON, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSGNOR TO DELCO-REMY CORPORA- TION, OF DAYTON, OHIO, `A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

ENGINE-STARTING APPARATUS.

Application filed November 21, 1927. Serial No. 234,642.

rrIhis invention relates to apparatus for starting internal combustion engines and particularly to engine starting apparatus comprising anV electric motor which drives Va gear moved manually into engagement vbeen the practice to attach to the field frame of an electric starting motor, a mounting bracket which is adapted to be attached to the outside of the engine flywheel housing and to enclose a mechanismfor connecting the motor shaft with the engine gear, a por-- tion of said bracket extending into the engine flywheel housing in order to support' one end of the armature shaft. Outside of the engine flywheel housing, the bracket carries usually a pedal operated lever which shifts the connecting mechanism endwise along the motor shaft. Various types of engines require different locations of the shifting lever with respect to the flywheel gear. In some cases the aXis of the shifting levermay be closer to the plane of the f iywheel gear than in other cases. I-Ience, the distance between the end of the shifting leverV which cooperates with the shifting yoke to the motor pinion will vary for different installations. y

It is an object of the present invention to Y provide a construction by which the number of different kinds of parts required for various types of installations will be reduced to the minimum.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein a preferred embodiment of the present invention is clearly shown.

In the drawings: Y Fig. l is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of an engine starting apparatus embodying the present invention. Y

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 Fie. 3 is a. ers ectiveview of a ortion of .the mechanism for shifting the motor pinion.

' ig. 4 is a snap ring used to retain certain parts in position.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing a different form of pinion shifting device.

Referring to the drawings, designates the field frame of an electric motor which includes an armature 21 carried by an armature shaft 22 which is journalled in bearings 23 and 24 carried respectively by a housing 25 and a plate 26. The housing 25 is attached by screws 27 to the frame 20 and the pla-te 26 by screws 28 to the housing 25.

The right hand end of the shaft 22 which is not shown in the drawings, is supported in any well known manner by the frame attached to the right hand end of the field frame. The electric switch which controls the operation of the motor is enclosed within a switch vcase 30 and includes stationary contacts which are attached respectively to terminal members 3l. and 32, the latter being connected with one of the field windings 33 of the electric motorwhich windings surround the pole piece 34. rThe switch includes a movable contact operated by a plunger 35 to which is attached a cap 36. A spring 37 located between the cap 36 and the switch case 30 normally vmaintains the plunger in the position shown in Fig. l, in which position the motor switch is open.

The shaft 22 has a splined portion 40 having a sliding connection with an internally splined Vportion 4l of a sleeve 42 movable endwise along the shaft 22 and carrying the driving member 43 of a one-way overrunning clutch shown in Fig. 2. The member 43 has wedging surfaces 44 which cooperate with rollers 45 to transmit motion when rotating in the direction of arrow 46 to a driven clutch member 47 which is drivingly connected with a motor pinion 48. The clutch members 47 and 43 are prevented from sepalrating' by a plate 49 having a flange 50 which is formed by spinning into a groove 5l in the member 47 The plate 49 is provided with an opening for receiving a hub 52 of the driving clutch member 43. As will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. spring pressed plungers 53 urge the rollers into the wedging recesses provided between the surfaces 44 and the cylindrical inner surface of the driven clutch member 47. The clutch permits the driven member 47 to be released thelever 62 to move the pinion toward the from driving connection with the clutch member 43 when the pinion 48 is rotated faster by the engine than the clutch member 43 is rotated by the motor.

Movement of the motor pinion 48 relative to an engine flywheel gear iscontrolled by a pedal rod 61 connected with a shifting lever 62 which is fulcrumed upon a rod 63 carried by the housing 25. The lower end of the lever 62 carries a roller 64 which is received by an annular groove 65 in a shifting collar 66 which slides along the shaft 22 and isconnected by a yoke 67 with acollar 68 which slides along the sleeve 42. Motion is transmitted from the collar 68 to the pinion 48 to move it toward the flywheel gear 60 through a. compression spring 69 whichv is normally maintained in a state of compressionbetween the hub 52 of the sleeve 41 andthe collar 68. The collar 68 is prevented from moving toward the right of the sleeve 42 by a resilient wire split ring 70 Vwhich is received by a grove 7 0EL in the end of the sleeve 42. A spring 72 located between the cap 73 on the pedal rod 61 and a cup-shaped member 74 attached to the floorboard 75 of a vehicle, normally maintains the rod 61 and the lever 62 in such position that the pinion 48 is held out of mesh with the engine gear 60 and in such position that'the grooved collar 66 presses against a cork washer 76 yand-,presses the same against the plate 26.

CTl

To start the engine the operator presses lthe pedal 61 in order to move the lever 62 clockwise and to push'the pinion 48 toward the left into mesh with the engine gear 60. After the Ineshino` of the gears has been substantially effected, the motor switch will be closed by reason of the engagement of the lever 62 with the switch plunger 3.5 forcing the latter downwardly so as to close the switch in the yusual manner. The motor `operates so as to turn lthe shaft 22 in a clockwisek direction when viewed vin the direction of the arrow 8O.l When the engine becomes self-operative, the pinion will overrun the shaft by reason of the vone-way clutch connection provided by the. overrunning clutch shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

' Y In case the teeth of the pinion vshould abut the teeth of the engine gear before going into mesh the operator will continue to press the pedal rod 61 in order to compress the springy 69 and to close the motor switch whereupon the motor will begin to turn the shaft 22 and the pinion into meshing registration with theengine gear 60. When this occurs, almost instantly the spring 69 will expand and move the sleeve 42, the clutch members 43 and 47 and the pinion 48 toward the left so as to quickly mesh the pinion with the'ens gine gear while the motor is accelerating.

Afterr the engine has been started, the pedal 61 is released and spring 72 will cause 'different installations.

'right out of engagement with the engine gear, motion being transmitted from the lever to the pinion through the parts 68, 70, 42, 43, 49 and 47. Rotation of themotor Fc shaft will be quickly arrested by reason of the brake provided by the collar 66 which is splinedl'y connected with the shaft 22, the floating cork disc 76 and the stationary brake surface provided by the plate 26. 7 Itis obvious that if engine starter installationsfor different engines would kpermit lQ- cating the fulcrum rod 63 the same distance from the engine flywheel gear 60, the same sub-assembly of parts for connecting the mo SOl tor shaft with the flywheel gear 60 and thc same means for connecting this subs-assembly I with the shifting lever 62 could be used for But since different installations of engine starting apparatusv require loca-ting the shifting lever 62 at different distances horizontally from the flywheel gear, the distance from the roller 64 to the pinion 48 willv vary. This condition requires varying either the gear connecting sub-assembly or the part which vconnects the f lever 62 with this sub-assembly.' In installaf tions where the -rod 63 is located relatively close to the engine gear 60, the lever 62 may be connected as shown in Fig.` 5 with 95 the gear lconnecting sub-assembly byv a grooved collar 90 which slides directly upon` the sleeve 42 and has a groove 91 for receiv' ing the roller 64. In installations lil-:e the one shown in Fig.,1, requiring a substantially greater distance betweenfthe flywheelgear and the rod 63, I prefer to substitute for the grooved collar 90 of the construction shown in Fig. 5, a part which comprises the collar 68 connected by the yoke 67 with the 105 collar 66 which slides directly along the'shaft 22. In installations requiring ya horizontal spacing between the rod 63 and the flywheel gear 60 other than that shown in Fig. l,r a part in whichthe yoke 67 is different in 1110 length fromthat shown in Fig. 1, mayv be l substituted.

, The space between the collars 66 and 68 permits relative movement between the end of the sleeve 42 and the collar 68 so that the 115 spring 69 may be compressed in case of gear Atooth abutment, and so that the wire split ring 70 may be placed within or removed from the groove 7 OEL by a suitable tool which will expand the ring 7()a so that it may be 120 zation of engine starting apparatus of this type to a certain degree A number of different installations niay use the same gear conm-:cting subassembly comprising the pinion 48, the overrunning clutcln'the sleeve 42 and the spring 69; and the same shifting le- 130 ver 62, pedal 6l and return spring 72. The prinipal parts to be changed to meet the requirements of different types of installations are the housing 25 and the part which provides for connecting the shifting lever 62 with the gear connecting subassembly.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes apreferred form, it is to be understood that'other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow. n

What is claimed is as follows:

l. Engine starting apparatus comprising in combination, a motor; a splined shaft Vdriven by the motor; a. gear connecting subassembly comprising a sleeve slidable along the shaft and driven by its splines, a pinion connected with the sleeve, and a motion transmitting spring surrounding the sleeve; a pedal operated part movable substantially lengthwise of the shaft; means for transmitting motion from said part to said spring and comprising a collar slidable directly upon the shaft, a collar slidable directly upon the sleeve and a yoke tying the collars to Vgether in spaced relation; and means attached to the end of t-he sleeve between the collars for preventing separation of the sleeve from the collar sliding upon it.

2. Engine starting apparatus comprising, in Combination, a motor; a. splined shaft driven by the motor; a gear connecting subasseinbly comprising a sleeve slidable along the shaft and driven byA its splines, a pinion connected with the sleeve, and a spring surrounding the shaft for transmitting motion in one direction to the pinion; a collar slidable upon the sleeve for transmitting motion to the pinion; means carried by the sleeve near its end remotest from the pinion for preventing separation of the collar from the sleeve; a grooved collar slidable directly upon the shaft; a yoke joining the two collars and holding them in spaced relation; and a pedal operated member engageable with the grooved collar for moving the same along the shaft.

In testimony7 whereof I hereto afhx my signature.

FREDERICK D. FUNSTON. 

